Contact | William

Posted on October 23, 2013 by gwunterberger

Meet William, the very first subject I sent a copy of my photo too. He was walking around Washington Square Park with a beautiful Pentax 67 (complete with wooden grip!) and it was the first time that I had ever seen the camera in person. At this point I wasn’t as comfortable taking portraits of strangers, but I had it in my head that I would take photos of people with cool cameras (the theory being that they were photographers, so they would be less inclined to say no). So I circled the park a couple times, gathering up the nerve to ask. He couldn’t have been nicer, and later I realized HE also walked around the city taking portraits. In fact his Flickr account, especially his older stuff, turned out to be a big reason why I started taking the Hasselblad out onto the streets. I hadn’t seen that “look” before, and I fell in love. Anyway, he was also the first person to respond to my image, and the resulting conversation is worth the read.

More CONTACT after the break… Continue reading →

Field Notes | Give Me A Hand

Posted on May 21, 2013 by gwunterberger

Bringing back the Field Notes, and it feels SO GOOD! Saw this quiet scene in the lobby of my building and everyone stared while I fired off a few frames. Nobody else appreciated the irony.

Narcissisms | Porthole

Posted on February 27, 2013 by gwunterberger

Elizabeth Street porthole.

Narcissisms | The Shick

Posted on December 18, 2012 by gwunterberger

Gone are the days of shameless self-admiration, replaced with a slightly less self-centered self-portrait. I’m still in the reflection, so there’s that.

Narcissisms | 100 Ave of the Americas

Posted on December 4, 2012 by gwunterberger

Independence Day

Posted on September 15, 2012 by gwunterberger

I have learned to let my photos “marinate,” in other words, take the images then leave them alone for a while so that when I come back everything is removed from the moment and fresh. It helps me be more objective in my edits, and I love forgetting exactly what I shot only to rediscover old goodies. That being said, I have been seriously abusing the method, using it as rationale for laziness in revisiting backlogged photos (see Vietnam, Argentina, Japan ext.) Thus the reason this July 4th post comes in exactly 78 days after the event. If my memory serves me correctly, the day started with an afternoon soiree into Brooklyn for another epic lunch at Diner, followed by much lounging until the evening. After dinner, the streets running towards the river were already blockaded, and masses of people were in a Grapes of Wrath migration uptown searching for the mythical opening. Poor Lauren couldn’t handle the sea of GP (general population) and had to bail out, but rest of the group continued onward in the search of open space. Unlike last year where we casually found a nice spot to lounge, we were forced to settle for a minute sliver of concrete among an ocean of observers, but at least we were gutting it out. The show was amazing as always, but I found myself much more interested in watching the people. Looking back I guess I could was doing the same thing, but everyone was busy watching the display through their displays, holding up all kinds of electronic devices to record the fleeting moment. I found it a fascinating, and wondered if they were enjoying the event or too worried about capturing it. Adding to my fascination was the fact that along with the Canon I had loaded the Leica with some Delta 3200 for the first time, and was eager to see how it would turn out. Not only that, but it was my first date with the Leica itself, so needless to say I was a little bit happy. The film itself came out gritty and grainy (increased a bit by my poor handling and suspect scanning), with a totally different feel than the digital files but adding beauty in their own right. I don’t think I’m sold on the 3200, but it was a fun experiment that produced my favorite shot of the night, see if you can guess which one.